Princess ''(Leult)'' Ijigayehu Amha Selassie (known during her life as Her Imperial Highness Princess Ijigayehu Asfaw Wossen; 1936–1976) was the eldest child of Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

by his first wife, Princess

Wolete Israel Seyoum Princess Wolete Israel Seyoum (1907 – 1989) was the daughter of '' Leul Ras'' Seyoum Mengesha, Prince of Tigray, KBE, and great-granddaughter of Emperor Yohannes IV of Ethiopia. Biography '' Woizero'' Wolete was thus the sister of '' L ...

and was the granddaughter to Emperor

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...

Lineage and marriage

Through her mother's family she was a great-great granddaughter of Emperor

Yohannes IV ''girmāwī''His Imperial Majesty, spoken= am , ጃንሆይ ''djānhoi''Your Imperial Majesty(lit. "O steemedroyal"), alternative= am , ጌቶቹ ''getochu''Our Lord (familiar)(lit. "Our master" (pl.)) yohanes Yohannes IV (Tigrinya: ዮሓ� ...

. Princess Ijigayehu was married to ''

Dejazmach Until the end of the Ethiopian Empire, Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, there were two categories of nobility in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Mesafint ( gez, መሳፍንት , modern , singular መስፍን , modern , "prince"), the hereditary nobility, ...

'' Fikre Selassie Hapte Mariam, the heir to the old

Welega Welega (also spelled Wollega; ; am, ወለጋ) was a province in western Ethiopia, with its capital city at Nekemte. It was named for the Wollega Oromo, who are the majority of the population within its boundaries. Welega was bordered on the w ...

Kingdom of Leqa Naqamte, and brother to Woizero Atsede Habte- Mariam (wife of General Mulugeta Bulli) and Princess

Mahisente Habte Mariam Princess Mahisente Habte Mariam(born at Nekemte on 9 February 1937) is the widow of Prince Sahle Selassie, youngest son of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. She is the daughter of ''Dejazmach'' Habte Mariam Gebre-Igziabiher, also referred as ...

(wife of

Prince Sahle Selassie Prince Sahle Selassie (27 February 1932 – 24 April 1962) was the youngest child of Emperor Haile Selassie and Empress Menen Asfaw of Ethiopia. His full title was "His Imperial Highness, Prince Sahle Selassie Haile Selassie". Biography Born af ...

). Dejazmach Fikre Selassie and Princess Ijigayehu were the parents of six children (all created Princes and Princesses by their grandfather Emperor Amha Selassie while in exile): * ''

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

'' Samson Fikre Selassie (born 10 October 1954). * ''

Princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

'' Rahel Fikre Selassie (born 19 December 1957). * ''Princess'' Meheret Fikre Selassie (born 19 December 1959). * ''Princess'' Aster Fikre Selassie (born 30 April 1960). * ''Prince'' Bekere Fikre Selassie (born 1962). * ''Prince'' Yishaq Fikre Selassie (born 1964). Princess Ijigayehu notably accompanied her grandfather Emperor Haile Selassie on his state visit to Italy and also on his state visits to South Korea, Australia, and Malaysia.

Derg Uprising

Princess Ijigayehu was imprisoned with the rest of the Imperial family on September 11, 1974, the day before Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed by the

Derg The Derg (also spelled Dergue; , ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership formally " c ...

. She died in early 1976 after

medical neglect In the context of caregiving, neglect is a form of abuse where the perpetrator, who is responsible for caring for someone who is unable to care for themselves, fails to do so. It can be a result of carelessness, indifference, or unwillingness and ...

while still in prison. She was buried at the Ketchene Medhan Alem Church in Addis Ababa by her children and her mother who were under surveillance but not imprisoned. Early the following year, all her children, along with other children of the Imperial family, escaped from Ethiopia. Her husband remained imprisoned for 8 years and died in August 1996.

Honours

National

Order of The Queen of Sheba (Ethiopia) ribbon

Dame Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Queen of Sheba The Order of the Queen of Sheba was originally instituted as a ladies' order in 1922 in the Ethiopian Empire by Empress Zawditu and would later become the diplomatic symbol of a holy pact. Classes The Order of the Queen of Sheba is presented in ...

Refugee Medal (1944) * Jubilee Medal 1955 (Ethiopia)

Jubilee Medal (1955) * ETH Emperor Haile Selassie I Jubilee Medal

Emperor Haile Selassie I Jubilee Medal (1966)

Foreign

GRE Order of Beneficence - Grand Cross BAR

Dame Grand Cross of the

Order of Beneficence The Order of Beneficence ( el, Τάγμα της Ευποιΐας) is an order of Greece that was established in 1948. It is conferred by the Greek government as a moral reward for women especially, Greek and foreign, for the good services they ...

(Kingdom of Greece, 04/1959) * Order of the Queen (Cambodia, 1962)

Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Queen Kossomak (Kingdom of Cambodia, 04/05/1968) * Cordone di gran Croce OMRI BAR

Dame Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

(Italian Republic, 06/11/1970)

Ancestry

References

1976 deaths Ethiopian princesses Ethiopian Royal Family 1936 births Grand Crosses of the Order of Beneficence (Greece) Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Haile Selassie {{Ethiopia-royal-stub